Give Scott Holt credit for trying to breathe life into the modern electric blues with his second album, Dark of the Night. He is clearly indebted to tradition -- he spent over a decade as a sideman for Buddy Guy, and he performs not only with his band but with Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble and the Jimi Hendrix Experience as backing bands -- but he never mimics his predecessors, even if he's covering "Crosstown Traffic." His guitar is lively and vibrant, projecting more of synthesis of various styles rather than duplication. Holt also chooses some unusual songs, opening the album with Prince's "Five Women" and the Clash's "Train in Vain (Stand By Me)." All of these departures from the norm are quite welcome, as is Holt's strong musicianship, but the record is occasionally bogged down by his strained, bluesy vocalizing, which unfortunately comes to the forefront on such interesting choices as "Train in Vain." Even with this weakness, however, the record has a considerable amount of life and style -- enough to make it a satisfying step forward from Holt. © Stephen Thomas Erlewine © 2012 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/album/release/dark-of-the-night-mr0000111833
Scott Holt has often been criticised for his weak vocals, but that's not unusual when talking about bluesman. The music is the primary interest on this album and Scott's guitar work is Grade A. Scott is backed by members of his own Scott Holt Band, musicians from the Jimi Hendrix Experience/Band Of Gypsys, and players from the great Double Trouble. Buddy Guy also sings and plays guitar on Track 6. Scott's "From Lettsworth To Legend - A Tribute To Buddy Guy" album is on this blog. Try and listen to Scott's "Chipped Front Tooth" album. [All tracks @ 320 Kbps except Track 4 @ 256 Kbps: File size = 116 Mb]
TRACKS / COMPOSERS
1 Five Women - Prince 4:28
2 Train in Vain (Stand by Me) - Mick Jones / John Mellor / Joe Strummer 5:21
3 Dark of the Night - Scott Holt 4:01
4 I Believe to My Soul - Ray Charles 5:36
5 Dimples - James C. Bracken / John Lee Hooker 4:14
6 Breakin' up Somebody's Home - Al Jackson, Jr. / Timothy Matthews 5:24
7 Right Place, Wrong Time - Dr. John / Otis Rush 4:22
8 All You Give Me Is the Blues - Gary Nicholson / Jon Tiven / Sally Tiven 4:03
9 Crosstown Traffic - Jimi Hendrix 3:38
10 It Hurts to Love Somebody - Eddie Jones 4:22
11 You Gotta Serve Somebody - Bob Dylan 5:16
MUSICIANS
Scott Holt - Guitar, Vocals
Buddy Guy - Guitar, Vocals on Track 6
Tommy Shannon - Bass on Tracks 2,4,5,7
Chris Kent - Bass on Tracks 3,8,9,10
Billy Cox - Bass on Tracks 1,6,11
Reese Wynans - Keyboards on Tracks 2,4,5,7
Drew Wiseman - Keyboards on Tracks 3,8,9,10
Mitch Mitchell - Drums on Tracks 1,6,11
Chris Layton - Drums on Tracks 2,4,5,7
Derek Wiseman - Drums on Tracks 3,8,9,10
Paul Leim - Drum Loop on Track 9
Glen Caruba - Percussion
Vici Hampton, Robert Bailey, Jr., Kim Fleming - Background Vocals
BIO
Guitar virtuoso Scott Holt first came to national prominence as part of various high energy bands led by legendary Chicago blues guitarist and singer Buddy Guy. He was just 23 when Guy took him under his wing and taught him how to travel intelligently while accommodating the rigorous nature of blues touring. Holt stayed with Guy on the road and in the recording studio for a decade, earning his post-graduate education with one of the true blues guitar masters. Holt was raised in Tennessee, and hearing Jimi Hendrix for the first time proved to be a revelatory moment in his life. His parents bought him a guitar for Christmas when he was 12. Like a lot of kids, he took piano lessons, because he had to, but he quit after six months. He didn't get serious about playing the instrument until he was 19, when his parents bought him an electric guitar. When he was 20, his father took him to hear Buddy Guy one night. That night, he met Guy and got an improvised guitar lesson from the master. He would frequently sit in with Guy on stage when he was touring around Nashville. One day in 1989, Guy called Holt out of the blue and asked him to join his touring band. Holt began writing his own songs while on the road with Guy and eventually began to record his songs, back home in Nashville, during breaks from Guy's international touring schedule. In a record company biography accompanying "Dark of the Night," his first nationally distributed recording, Holt argues: "Every genre has its purists, but blues doesn't start and stop with Muddy Waters." Indeed, through the 1990's and into the new millennium, Holt and his various touring bands have been expanding the parameters of the form, and thanks to his decade on the road with Guy, he's been able to share stages and learn from the likes of Eric Clapton, John Mayall, Albert Collins, Jack Bruce, Carlos Santana and Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora. Holt's albums under his own name, which showcase his abilities as a songwriter and singer as well as his fiery, passionate, high energy guitar playing, include his debut, "Messing with the Kid," in 1998, "Dark of the Night," a 1999 release for Mystic Music, "Chipped Front Tooth," for Lightyear Entertainment in 2003, and "From Lettsworth to Legend: A Tribute to Buddy Guy." More recently, he's released "Angels in Exile" for Blue Storm Music in 2001 and "Revelator" for Rockview in late 2005. Holt continues to tour the U.S. and Canada. © Richard J. Skelly, allmusic.com
MORE ABOUT SCOTT HOLT
At the age of 19, after hearing Jimi Hendrix for the very first time, Scott Holt started playing guitar, and soon found the Blues. One year later, his father took him to see legendary Blues artist, Buddy Guy, and his life was forever changed. Following a chance meeting backstage, and an impromptu guitar lesson, a friendship developed that would last a lifetime. At the age of 23, Scott joined the Buddy Guy Band and describes it as his "trip to the University". After many years of touring the world with Buddy, and playing with artists such as Eric Clapton, and Carlos Santana, in 1999, the time had come to launch a solo career. Angels in Exile, is Scott Holt's first release to include original material co-written by Holt and such songwriters as 3-time Grammy Award Winner Dennis Walker (Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Play With My Friends), Danny Tate (Kenny Wayne Sheppard), and Richard Fleming. The album is a gritty blend of heated guitar rifts, heartfelt lyrics with soulful vocals, and includes special guests Paul Barrere and Billy Payne of Little Feat. It is produced by Greg Hampton and engineered and mixed by Ben Elliott (Eric Clapton, Kim Simmonds). By touring throughout the U.S. and the UK in 2000 he is garnering a solid fan base and creating excitement as the young and hip "new face" of the Blues Rock genre. He appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival, London Blues Festival (UK), Windsor Blues Festival (UK), and the Eureka Springs Blues Festival, and continues to generate rave reviews of both "old school" Blues fans and the younger set who are being introduced to, not only Scott Holt, but are discovering the Blues for themselves. "I've always believed that music played from the heart is a form of prayer. That's what the Blues is to me; it's the sound of the human heart rejoicing, or crying, or both at the same time! Now that I'm on my own, it's my responsibility to continue playing the Blues and keep them alive. If I teach one person about Elmore James or Earl Hooker, if I give one person the encouragement to pick up an instrument and make that joyful noise, then all the lessons I've learned won't be in vain." © www.bellyup4blues.com
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